Thesis (doctoral)--Berlin, 1935. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. [vii]-viii). Also issued in print.

Inaug.-Diss.--Bern. / "Verzeichnis der im text erwähnten werke": p. [112].

Inaug.-Diss.--Bern. / "Verzeichnis der im text erwähnten werke": p. [112].

Several definitions exist that offer to identify the boundaries between languages and dialects, yet these distinctions are inconsistent and are often as political as they are linguistic (Chambers & Trudgill, 1998). A different perspective is offered in this thesis, by investigating how closely related linguistic varieties are represented in the brain and whether they engender similar cognitive effects as is often reported for bilingual speakers of recognised independent languages, based on the principles of Green’s (1998) model of bilingual language control. Study 1 investigated whether bidialectal speakers exhibit similar benefits in non-linguistic inhibitory control as a result of the maintenance and use of two dialects, as has been proposed for bilinguals who regularly employ inhibitory control mechanisms, in order to suppress one language while speaking the other. The results revealed virtually identical performance across all monolingual, bidialectal and bilingual participant groups, thereby not just failing to find a cognitive control advantage in bidialectal speakers over monodialectals/monolinguals, but also in bilinguals; adding to a growing body of evidence which challenges this bilingual advantage in non-linguistic inhibitory control. Study 2 investigated the cognitive representation of dialects using an adaptation of a Language Switching Paradigm to determine if the effort required to switch between dialects is similar to the effort required to switch between languages. The results closely replicated what is typically shown for bilinguals: Bidialectal speakers exhibited a symmetrical switch cost like balanced bilinguals while monodialectal speakers, who were taught to use the dialect words before the experiment, showed the asymmetrical switch cost typically displayed by second language learners. These findings augment Green’s (1998) model by suggesting that words from different dialects are also tagged in the mental lexicon, just like words from different languages, and as a consequence, it takes cognitive effort to switch between these mental settings. Study 3 explored an additional explanation for language switching costs by investigating whether changes in articulatory settings when switching between different linguistic varieties could - at least in part – be responsible for these previously reported switching costs. Using a paradigm which required participants to switch between using different articulatory settings, e.g. glottal stops/aspirated /t/ and whispers/normal phonation, the results also demonstrated the presence of switch costs, suggesting that switching between linguistic varieties has a motor task-switching component which is independent of representations in the mental lexicon. Finally, Study 4 investigated how much exposure is needed to be able to distinguish between different varieties using two novel language categorisation tasks which compared German vs Russian cognates, and Standard Scottish English vs Dundonian Scots cognates. The results showed that even a small amount of exposure (i.e. a couple of days’ worth) is required to enable listeners to distinguish between different languages, dialects or accents based on general phonetic and phonological characteristics, suggesting that the general sound template of a language variety can be represented before exact lexical representations have been formed. Overall, these results show that bidialectal use of typologically closely related linguistic varieties employs similar cognitive mechanisms as bilingual language use. This thesis is the first to explore the cognitive representations and mechanisms that underpin the use of typologically closely related varieties. It offers a few novel insights and serves as the starting point for a research agenda that can yield a more fine-grained understanding of the cognitive mechanisms that may operate when speakers use closely related varieties. In doing so, it urges caution when making assumptions about differences in the mechanisms used by individuals commonly categorised as monolinguals, to avoid potentially confounding any comparisons made with bilinguals.

Thesis--University of Basle. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Lund. / Bibliography: p. 159-163.

Thesis--University of Basle. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis offers a three-pronged perspective on the historical interconnections between Lowland Scots language(s) and British imperialism. Through analyses of the manifestation of Scots linguistic varieties outwith Scotland during the nineteenth century, alongside Scottish concerns for maintaining the socio-linguistic “propriety” and literary “standards” of “English,” this discussion argues that certain elements within Lowland language were employed in projecting a sentimental-yet celebratory conception of Scottish imperial prestige. Part I directly engages with nineteenth-century “diasporic” articulations of Lowland Scots forms, focusing on a triumphal, ceremonial vocalisation of Scottish shibboleths, termed “verbal tartanry.” Much like physical emblems of nineteenth-century Scottish iconography, it is suggested that a verbal tartanry served to accentuate Scots distinction within a broader British framework, tied to a wider imperial superiorism. Parts II and III look to the origins of this verbal tartanry. Part II turns back to mid eighteenth-century Scottish linguistic concerns, suggesting the emergence of a proto-typical verbal tartanry through earlier anxieties to ascertain “correct” English “standards,” and the parallel drive to perceive, prohibit, and prescribe Scottish linguistic usage. It is argued that later eighteenth-century Scottish philological priorities for the roots and “purity” of Lowland Scots forms – linked to “ancient” literature and “racially”-loaded origin myths – led to an encouraged “uncovering” of hallowed linguistic traits. This renegotiated reverence for certain Lowland forms was bolstered by contemporary “diasporic” imaginings – envisioning, indeed pre-empting the significance of Scots migrants in the sentimental preservation of a seemingly-threatened linguistic distinction. Part III looks beyond Scotland in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Through a consideration of the markedly different colonial and “post-colonial” contexts of British India and the early American Republic, attitudes towards certain, distinctive Lowland forms, together with Scots' assertions of English linguistic “standards,” demonstrate a Scottish socio-cultural alignment with British imperial prestige.

Linguistic identities and ideologies of Irish and Ulster-Scots speakers in Northern Ireland (NI) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI) are examined through a focus on rampant sectarianism during the violent 30 years known as “The Troubles”. Seven historical events are reviewed such as the 1798 Ulster Rebellion, the Great Irish Famine, the failed Easter Rising of 1916 and the political ideology of Orangeism in the geopolitical landscape of NI. John Hewitt’s The Rhyming Weavers (1974) and Feargal Mac Ionnrachtaigh’s work, Language, Resistance, and Revival: Republican Prisoners and the Irish Language in the North of Ireland (2013) represent the development of resistant and covert identities through Irish and Ulster-Scots language “code” and the creation of prison Gaeltachts with fáinnes as symbols of pride and connectivity. The Ulster Weaver Poets affirmed that “death would be welcome” opposed to a life on the weaving loom under British imperialistic rule while the Republican Irish prisoners “preferred to face death rather than be classed as criminals'' by the British hierarchy (Coogan 1980, 159; Mac Ionnrachtaigh 2013, 134). Brian Friel’s Translations (1980), Hugo Hamilton’s The Speckled People (2003), and Ciarán Collins’ The Gamal (2013) highlight unexpected and disheartening consequences of identity loss and entrapment for characters in ROI as Irish discourse usage is a barrier to fulfillment as well as viewed as violent and dangerous. Commonality in narrative expression is the preoccupation with self-sacrifice, martyrship, and death to reinforce the “authentic” citizen true to Ireland’s future. Newspaper articles, editorial comments, and personal opinion narratives from seven news publications from NI and the ROI are discussed. Whom the languages actually “belong” to— political parties such as Sinn Féin or community members is difficult because roles are intricately interwoven. The Troubles and Brexit have emphasized the hybridity of identities of Britishness and Irishness and subsequent linguistic choices and realities for all citizens of Ireland. All narratives firmly establish that understanding the languages as a form of linguistic resistance to a silencing of a traumatic past, regardless of political positioning or linguistic ideology, are foundational in solutions for the future survival and maintenance of these languages, not to mention social, cultural, and personal healing.

Part 1 of this thesis comprises a biography which, for the first time, places Marion Angus within her historical, family and social context. A version of this was published as the introduction to my edited collection The Singin Lass: Selected Work of Marion Angus (Polygon, 2006). Assumptions made about the poet's activities and attitudes derive from critical reading of archival material: her published 'diaries', letters and prose, as well as her poetry. The appraisal of her work places it within literary contexts. The development of her linguistic awareness of the Scots language is traced and the extent of her commitment to it noted. I conclude that assessment of her work has frequently been affected by erroneous judgements about her lifestyle and that the poetry, which has greater depth than it sometimes is given credit for, illuminates her struggle rather than defines her character. Her strength and resilience, as well as her contribution to Scots literature, should be respected and admired. Part II comprises three extracts from Blackthorn, a novel based on aspects of the life and work of Marion Angus. My starting point was the marked contrast between her earlier prose and her later poetry. This, I believe, reflects an actual family crisis which is central to my narrative. The extracts presented here (dated 1900, 1930 and 1945-46) present a credible alternative to inaccurate assumptions which were made about her life. I explore two actual significant relationships in her life: with a sister who becomes wholly dependent on her, and with a younger friend who looks after her in her final year. In the absence of any firm evidence of lovers, I speculate on other relationships.